Workflow automation for UK SMEs.
Still copying data between systems? Let's remove the manual handover.
Squared Lemons helps UK SMEs remove manual admin by connecting the tools they already use: CRM, email, finance, ecommerce, spreadsheets and support.
We map one messy workflow, find the real bottleneck, then build the smallest useful fix: an integration, internal tool, automation, report, or AI assistant if it genuinely helps.
Founder-led by Jonathan Gill — former Watchfinder CTO/CIO, with 30 years writing, deploying and leading business-critical software.
Bring one annoying process: invoices, orders, onboarding, reporting, support handovers or repeated team questions. We will tell you what is worth fixing first.
The best automation opportunities are hiding in the boring handovers.
Someone copies the same customer, order or invoice data from one place to another because the systems do not quite agree.
Reports are rebuilt by hand because the data lives across finance, CRM, ecommerce, email and spreadsheets.
The team has learned to work around the problem, so the waste is normalised. We make it visible, price the friction, then remove the first useful piece.
A focused review of one workflow, not a vague transformation exercise.
Map the workflow
We follow one process end to end: who touches it, which tools are involved, where data is copied, where exceptions happen, and what happens when someone is off.
Find the smallest useful fix
We decide whether the first move is an integration, a small internal tool, a cleaner data check, a report, an AI assistant, or simply a better handover.
Build only if the case is clear
If there is a clear win, we scope a small fixed implementation and test it against the real workflow, not a demo that only works in a meeting.
Keep the queue practical
For ongoing clients, we keep a visible queue of useful improvements while privately handling architecture, code, integrations, testing, rollout and review.
This is for SMEs with one workflow that is wasting visible time every week.
You do not need a grand AI strategy to start. You need one manual process mapped properly, a clear view of the waste, and a practical route to remove it without breaking the business.
Good fit
Your team is copying data between systems, spreadsheets, inboxes or portals.
You already use decent tools, but the handovers between them are still manual or fragile.
You want someone senior enough to diagnose the workflow and hands-on enough to build the fix.
You want AI considered, but only where it improves the workflow rather than adding theatre.
Probably not
You want an AI chatbot before fixing the data or process it would depend on.
You want a random one-off Zap without understanding the workflow around it.
You need a large agency, a slide deck, or a six-month discovery phase before touching the work.
What a workflow review can turn into.
The right answer depends on the workflow. These are the kinds of small, useful systems we usually end up designing, building, connecting or leading.
Small internal workflow tools
Focused tools that replace spreadsheets, inbox chasing or copy-paste handovers with a clear process.
Integrations and data handovers
Practical connections between CRM, email, finance, ecommerce, project and support tools where manual handover is the problem.
Exception reports and decision support
Reports that show what needs attention instead of asking someone to rebuild the numbers by hand.
AI assistants inside the workflow
Assistants that help staff draft, check, summarise, classify or respond once the underlying process is reliable.
Bounded agents for repeatable tasks
Agents that carry out narrow tasks across tools with logging, review points and sensible failure handling.
Ongoing automation queue
A visible queue of workflow improvements, with Squared Lemons privately managing architecture, code, tests, deployment and review.
Founder-led. Deliberately small. Close to the work.
Squared Lemons is led by Jonathan Gill.
I have spent 30 years writing, deploying and leading business-critical software, including the systems behind Watchfinder through scale, funding and acquisition.
That background matters because the current AI hype is only one part of the problem. The useful work is in the detail: how your team makes decisions, where data lives, what breaks under pressure, what can be automated safely, and what should simply be better software.
When you work with Squared Lemons, the person helping shape the strategy is also close to the implementation: code, architecture, integrations, agents, deployment and review.
No handovers. No layers. No theatre.
Questions we should answer early.
Straight answers before we talk about tools, retainers or whether automation is even the right answer.
01 Is this an AI project or an automation project?
Is this an AI project or an automation project?
Usually it starts as an automation project. We map the workflow first, then decide whether the useful fix is an integration, small internal tool, report, cleaner data, AI assistant, or a process change. AI is part of the toolkit, not the default answer.
02 What happens in a Workflow Automation Review?
What happens in a Workflow Automation Review?
We pick one workflow that wastes visible time, follow it from trigger to outcome, list the systems and people involved, identify the manual handovers, estimate the waste, and recommend the smallest useful fix. If there is a clear case, we can scope and build it.
03 Do you build the automation as well as review it?
Do you build the automation as well as review it?
Yes. The work is grounded in hands-on technical experience. Depending on the workflow, the fix might involve custom software, scripts, integrations, data flows, agentic automation, AI workflow assistants, vendor selection, or simply improving the process before technology is added.
04 How much does this kind of work cost?
How much does this kind of work cost?
A first conversation is free. If the workflow looks worth investigating, we can propose a fixed-scope review or a small implementation. Pricing depends on systems complexity, access requirements, urgency, stakeholder involvement and how much responsibility Squared Lemons is carrying.
05 What size business do you work with?
What size business do you work with?
The best fit is usually UK SMEs and growing businesses with established teams, recurring admin, multiple systems, messy data, manual reporting, or handovers that are too important to leave to fragile one-off tools. Very small businesses needing a simple one-off automation are usually better served elsewhere.
Let's review the workflow.
Book a 30-minute conversation about one workflow that wastes time every week. We will look at the systems around it and whether the practical next step is automation, integration, software, AI, or leaving it alone for now.
No pitch deck. No vague transformation plan. If the workflow is not painful enough to justify technology, we will say so.